I’m so happy to report that I’ve just finished another WIP! For the Love of a Witch is a fantasy romance novella, written in the style of a fairytale. It’s a huge departure from my typical writing style and was super challenging (and super rewarding) to write. I’m really excited about this story. I think it’s my best work to date, and I hope my readers will think so too.

As for Graduating Class of Never, I’ve received some really great feedback from a few publishers, and now that the first draft of FtLoaW is done, I’m going to do some rewrites before sending GCN out again. I also have a short story and a YA sci-fi novel that are next up in my queue, so there’s lots to keep me busy.

And now a bit of a personal update. My life has been at a standstill since 2012/2013. I had, until then, neglected my mental health and I paid a heavy price for that. I crashed. Hard. I’m just now getting to a place where I no longer feel like a threat to myself. Every day remains a struggle, but I’m able to eye the future with optimism. It’s a good feeling. One that I want to protect and further cultivate.

A part of getting myself back on track, it’s time to start getting serious about my writing again. That means dealing with the submissions process and the inevitable rejections, as well as sorting out my social media. I’m researching which platforms will be best suited to my needs and my strengths. Whatever I decide upon will have to be sustainable and more importantly, fun! I think that was a big reason I resented social media so much back when I was first published. It felt like a chore, and more than that, a waste of time. I didn’t know what I was doing, so I just sort of spammed Facebook and Twitter, hoping that if I threw enough things out into the world, something would stick.

This time around, I’m going to go at my own pace while gently challenging myself. After all, I’m just as much a work in progress as any of the stories I write. There’s still so much I have to learn about myself, and for the first time in a long time, that feels like a privilege instead of a character flaw.